Hunt for Tanoya: DenTech City
by Ellipsis Flood
Summary: A strange girl appears before Lan and his friends and asks them for help. A virus, more intelligent, malevolent and powerful than any of them have ever seen, is hiding somewhere in the net. Set after the N1 Grand Prix and AU from then, mostly anime verse. Rated for occasional swearing.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** I decided to rewrite this, since the original version was created in a bout of MUST WRITE PLOT, combined with me relying way too much on visuals not everyone can conjure at the top of their head. I hope this version will be better.

Special thanks go to the people who read through this before publishing it.

-xox-

_These things consist of three parts:_  
_* The persona of a sentient being, most likely a child or a mentally handicapped, abandoned in cyberspace, without hope to regain his or her body._  
_* A malicious virus, one of the most potent of its time period._  
_* And a third, undefined component, which fuses these two together into one being._  
_What's created in that process can think like a human being, travel like a virus and act without morals blocking its way._  
_On top of that, it's batshit insane._

_- a napkin, filed under 'Tanoya', somewhere in the depths of the Atlairy archives_

-xox-

Every city has these narrow alleys, where no one ever looks. They're filled with garbage, bums and sometimes a corpse. Even DenTech City had them. And because no one ever looked in there, no one wondered what that bright flash was, or why, after it was over, a girl was standing there.  
She shook her mid-length, dark brown hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ears.

"Stupid portals. I should have tied my hair up. Or get it cut again." Frowning, she looked at the floppy disk in her hand for a while. Eventually, she put it into the bag that hung over her shoulder, and took out a PET instead.

"Okay, I'm here," she said to the device.

On the screen, her travel companion and NetNavi for the time being appeared. Much to her delight, he wore the same black longcoat and the same green glasses she was used to.

"About time. Your bag's... well, your bag. Not exactly girly in there," he remarked dryly.

She shrugged, walking out of the alley while looking at the PET display. "That's because I'm not girly either."

"Cory." The navi pouted, making puppy eyes. "Why are you so irritated?"

Cory rolled her eyes. "I'm 15 and I'm running around in a foreign dimension. Alone. On an important mission." She took a few deep breaths. "You're right. I should calm down a bit. Still, I'm alo-"

The Navi audibly cleared his throat. "Technically, I am a virtual copy of your teacher. That means I'm your adult guardian."

Cory put up the most deadpan face she could muster. "Really now, VJ? Really?"

"What? I am."

"You're certainly not acting like it."

"That's called obfuscating stupidity, and I'm just too good at i- Watch out!"

Cory jerked up, staring blankly at the boy on roller skates rushing towards her, too shocked to do anything.

-xox-

"Why didn't you wake me, Megaman?" Lan Hikari, notorious late riser, hastily threw his books into his backpack, grabbed his PET and rushed outside his room.

"I really tried, I swear." The blue Navi had his hand on the back of his head, laughing a bit.

"Stop it, Megaman, I'm gonna be late." The boy moaned. "Again!"

While rushing through the kitchen, he grabbed his lunch, then slipped into his roller skates and made his way to school. He was so dead. And just as usual he was late, again, there were people everywhere.

Lan had huge problems avoiding all these people as it was, but at least, they were in plain sight and he could dodge them in time. Except for that girl that just walked out of an alley, eyes locked onto her PET.

"Aaah craaap!" Lan tried to brake, but he was at a too high speed to make it in time.

-xox-

Cory sat back up, rubbing her head a bit. She hadn't hit her head and the only thing she'd keep from that accident would be a few scratches here and there.

The boy she had crashed into, probably a few years younger than her and on his way to school, seemed fine too as he pushed himself up and started collecting his books. Cory grabbed the PET next to her, only to find that the NetNavi in it wore an all-blue suit and had a red emblem on his chest.

Immediately, she held the PET over to the boy. "This one's yours."

He nodded quickly. "Thanks, and sorry for that, but I'm really, really late!" With that, he put his PET away, stood up and skated away.

After the initial confusion had worn off, Cory stood up, patted some dust off her clothes and looked after him. "That started out great."

VJ grinned smugly. "Would you believe me if I told you that this guy is actually competent at what he does?"

"So are you," Cory replied, equally smug.

"What was that supposed to mean?"

-xox-

Just as Lan had expected, he was late. Crashing into the PET girl hadn't really done anything good for that, but at least he had an excuse now. He hurried down the floor to the classroom and pulled open the door with all his power, which caused it to open rather loudly.

The whole classroom stared at him. Dex giggled, Yai pretended to not know him, Maylu glared at him and Ms. Mari was furious and disappointed at the same time.

"I'm sorry... Ms. Mari. I have... an explanation."

Ms. Mari sighed quietly. "Sit down and take a deep breath. Then you can explain yourself."

Lan nodded and walked over to his place, where he flopped down in the chair. "I swear, I would have been on time if I hadn't crashed into that girl on my way here. I swear."

"And you crashed into her because you were late."

Lan stared at his teacher nervously. "Yes, but..." He sighed. "I'm sorry I slept in. I swear, it won't happen again."

"Yes, Lan," Ms. Mari said, resignation in her voice.

As soon as the teacher had turned turned her back to her students, Lan bowed over to Maylu, wanting to confirm that he had, indeed, crashed into someone on his way to school.

"Lan Hikari! Maylu Sakurai!"

-xox-

After school, Lan was the first to have finished packing his bag. "You remember what we said we'd to today?"

Dex was the first to answer. "We're checking out that new curry restaurant! How would anyone forget that?"

Maylu rolled her eyes. "_You_ sure wouldn't."

"It's just curry," Yai remarked, walking by them casually. "Anyways, hurry up. The limo will arrive soon."

Lan, Maylu and Dex stared at her.

"The limo?" Maylu asked. "You ordered a..."

Yai nodded. "You can't expect me to use the subway. It doesn't suit me."

"Hey, that means we'll be there faster!" Dex licked his lips.

Lan nodded. "But don't eat all the curry on your own... again."

-xox-

Cory had spent most of the day hanging out in the local park. She and VJ had watched children play at a playground and, occasionally, watched their Navis carry out battles.

"It's time," VJ declared.

Cory nodded, put the PET away and pushed herself off the park bench. She left the park in silence, walking calmly until they reached a bigger street, where she took her PET out again. "Any signs so far?"

VJ shook his head. "Nope. And you, do you feel anything? Sick, tired..."

"No. Looks like everything's working out just fine. Where are we going?"

A map appeared on the PET's display, together with a few markings indicating directions. "Shall I read them to you in a monotone way?"  
Cory shook her head. "No way. You're not going to pretend you're a nav-" Realizing the pun VJ had just made, she glared at the screen. "You didn't just go there."

"That was completely unintentional. I swear."

-xox-

When Lan stepped out into the schoolyard, he had a weird feeling. He couldn't exactly tell why, but he felt like someone was watching him.  
"Oy, Lan! Hey, Earth to Lan! Anyone in there?" Maylu waved her hand in front of his face.

"Oh, sorry. I spaced out a bit," Lan muttered.

Maylu giggled. "You have a curry problem."

"I don-" Lan's eyebrows shot up. "That's her!" On the schoolyard, between some other students, there was the girl he had crashed into. She was holding her PET up in the air and looking around, as if they were both searching for someone. "Did she follow me?"

"Maybe you accidentally pocketed something that's hers?" Yai wondered aloud. "But then, why didn't she come in?"

Lan shrugged. "Maybe she's shy." At that moment, the girl stopped looking around and took her PET down. She then walked towards Lan and his friends.

"Well..." Lan scratched the back of his head. "Maybe I did take some of her stuff. I was in a hurry, after all."

"Hi," the girl said. She seemed to be a few years older than the group, as well as a bit taller. Her clothes were thoroughly average and she had a sling bag, which seemed to be where she carried her PET when she didn't hold it.

"Hi," Maylu answered.

Lan still stared at her, mentally going back to what he had packed into his bag after their accident. His thoughts were rudely interrupted when Maylu elbowed him. "Oh, sorry. Hi."

"Are you Lan Hikari?"

Lan frowned and pointed at himself. "Uh, yes. That's me." He scratched his head, wondering where she got his name.

"I'm Cory..." She hesitated. "Fortran. Cory Fortran. And I need your help."

"My help? Why that?" Lan looked around, wondering if there was a second Lan Hikari running around somewhere.

"I'd rather not t-" She was interrupted by Lan's stomach grumbling.

"Sorry... I need my dose of curry," Lan mumbled, poking his stomach. "If it's really that important, you can join us."

Cory looked at her PET. "Do we have curry budget?"

"Curry's not that expensive, so yes, we do."

Yai smiled. "Then hurry up! The limo's already waiting."

Cory frowned. "The limo?"

-xox-

When the blond girl with the large forehead mentioned a limo, Cory had expected that to be hyperbole. It took the oversized black car in front of the schoolyard gate to make her realize that yes, she would be driven to a curry restaurant in a really damn sweet limousine.

"That's... that's a nice car," she muttered, staring at the vehicle in awe.

The driver got out and opened the door. "Ah, Ms. Yai." He looked up at Cory. "Have you made a new friend, Ms. Yai?"

"She'll join us for now," the blonde answered before getting into the car, followed by her friends and, eventually, Cory. The driver closed the door again and drove off.

"So..." Yai looked at Cory intently. "What is this thing you need help with?"

Cory scratched her head. "Well, I think VJ would be better at explaining this." She held up her PET.

VJ shrugged. "Fine. Well... Cory and I have come to DenTech City because we're following a... well, let's call him a cross between a virus and a Navi."

"A virus and a Navi?" Lan repeated. He took out his PET. "Have you heard that, Megaman?"

VJ nodded. "He goes by the name Tanoya and he's as powerful as he's dangerous."

"Really?!" Lan seemed to have all but forgotten about the curry restaurant.

"You sound _enthusiastic_," Cory remarked dryly.

Maylu shrugged. "Eh, that's just Lan."

"As long as he stops his fooling around when things get serious, I'm okay with that." Cory shrugged.

Lan nodded. "Okay. So... you need our help with this Tanoya guy? _Our_ help?"

"Yes. You seem to know what you're doing, according to VJ." Cory eyed her PET.

"The incidents you were in up to the N1 Grand Prix, Pharaohman... also, you're too silly to be taken seriously by Tanoya."

"What?! I can be very serious if I want to!" Lan tried his best to put up a serious face, only to break out in laughter moments after.

"Anyways, we gathered some information on him. But I think I'll show you that when we're there. That stuff needs to be spread out on a table."

-xox-

When the group left the limousine again, everyone just stood there and stared for a while.

"You didn't mention that it was a _luxury_ curry restaurant," Lan muttered.

Cory's eyes dashed between the restaurant and her PET. "Uhm, VJ? Are you sure about the curry budget?"

"Maybe?"

Yai made a dismissive gesture. "Eh, it's just a meal. I pay things like that out of the petty cash." She stepped forwards and turned around to face the rest of the group. Just was she was about to say something, her eyes widened slightly. "I reserved a table, and even I can't make them wait forever. Let's go in!"

While Lan and Dex were enthusiastic to enter the restaurant, Maylu frowned at her blond friend. Cory just watched the scene with interest.

"What was that about?" Maylu asked. "You-" The girl stopped dead in her tracks and looked in the same direction as Yai, with the same 'oh crap' look on her face. A boy, approximately the same age as the others, walked along the sidewalk, flanked by two men in black suits. His hair was an interesting mixture of black and white, and he wore, in stark contrast to the men, a red vest over a black shirt and a pair of camouflage trousers.

"What brings you here, Ms. Ayano?" he asked, stressing the last part of the sentence like he'd rather call her something less polite.

Cory eyed him curiously, turning her PET to face him for a moment.

"Oh no. You're not going to this restaurant. You're not!" Yai pointed at him.

"I didn't intend to, but if you're so intent on it..." he smirked, which caused Yai to glare at him.

"You jerk! Stay out of my way!"

The men who were flanking the boy eyed Yai. "Shall we remove her?" one of them asked.

"That won't be necessary."

"I wish I had popcorn," popped up on the screen of Cory's PET, but she just tapped the display a few times.

Yai growled. "You're not the only one who has bodyguards, Chaud." She knocked at the driver's window of the limousine. "James!"

On command, the driver stepped out and placed himself next to Yai.

"You're being ridiculous," Chaud commented.

"I'm not being ri-" Right in the middle of an elaborated pointing motion, the door to the restaurant opened again, revealing Lan.

"What are you waiting for? ...oh, hey Chaud. What are you doing here?"

"This is ridiculous," VJ remarked on the screen. Cory just nodded.

Chaud seemed to find the whole ordeal similarly odd, as he sighed and attempted to go on, only to have Lan jump right in front of him. "I challenge you to a Net Battle!"

"Okay, that's it. This is ridiculous and silly and extremely frustrating!" Cory stepped between Lan and Chaud. "We have more important things to do than challenging some guy who may or may not have insulted your ego." She turned towards Lan. "Remember?"

"Oh... right... the mission." Lan sighed. "Okay. But I'll make up for that and challenge you later!" He pointed past Cory at Chaud. "Right now, we've got to help Net Agent Cory Fortran on her top secret mission." Lan stuck his tongue out, turned around and walked into the restaurant.

Maylu facepalmed and followed him. Yai glared once more at Chaud before she followed her friend, leaving Cory and Chaud behind.

"Uhm... yes. I should go now," she muttered and walked into the restaurant.

-xox-

When all of Lan's group had entered the restaurant, Chaud was left to ponder that odd series of events. He wasn't sure if Lan was dense enough to openly proclaim that someone was a Net Agent on a top secret mission, or if that was just a bluff, but something was off about that Cory Fortran person. She had acted differently from the others, and that wasn't just a matter of age. In general, she had seemed insecure about her situation and misplaced.

"Protoman?"

"Yes, Sir?"

"Look up Cory Fortran... in every major database."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** I _think_ I have some character soup in there, especially in the end. Also, tell me if things are too rushed, since that's one of my main problems.

-xox-

Cory watched with utter fascination as Lan and Dex seemed to hold an impromptu eating competition.

When they had, finally, entered the restaurant, a fancy-looking waiter immediately lead the group to a table in a separate room and just as quickly handed them their menus.

"Don't mind them. They're always like that," Maylu explained.

"They should be glad I chose to invite you," Yai added, taking a sip of her champagne glass of strawberry milk.

Cory shrugged. "I've seen worse... or at least on the same level." She ate some more of her food, glad to be one seat away from the boys. "Since these two are going to be busy for another while... who was that guy we met outside?"

Yai huffed. "He's a jerk."

"And the vice-president of BlazeQuest, as well as the winner of the latest N1 Grand Prix," Maylu added casually. With every item on the list, Yai became more exasperated.

"He's the competition." Yai grumbled and emptied her glass.

Cory fetched her PET out of her bag and held it in her lap. 'True?' she mouthed, which was answered by a simple nod from VJ. 'Then why not him?'  
This time, "Too smart!" popped up in a message window.

"Now what's up with your secret mission?" Lan asked, ripping Cory out of her thoughts.

"Oh, yeah... yeah, the 'secret mission'." Cory rolled her eyes and made air quotes. "The one you bragged about in the open. Also, I'm not some kind of secret agent or something. I'm just a network admin's assistant."

"Oh." Lan pouted.

"Anyways." Cory pulled a manila folder out of her bag and laid it onto the table. It said, in bold black hand-written letters, 'TANOYA'. "That's what we've gathered so far. It's mostly sightings, abilities and general things. This is in no way complete, mind you."

Lan nodded, opened the folder and blinked. "Is the picture somewhere under these other files? On TV, it's always on top."

Cory shook her head. "There is no picture. The only thing we have is a vague description. He has a few things he prefers in terms of looks. How they're implemented varies."

Lan picked up the checkered note. "Long, brown hair, spiky bangs, black robe. That is vague. What did he do?"

"He likes to cause harm to people," Cory explained flatly. "And by like, I mean, it's all he does. That, and spouting overused memes."

"Who would create something like this?" Maylu asked.

Cory shrugged. "I have no idea. He just... happened. We have no details on that part. Also, you see all the warnings? The people who added them are serious. This is going to be dangerous, for both you and your Navis. You can read through this information and decide if you're in on it."

Not even bothering to read the rest, Lan slammed his hand onto the table. "We beat Pharaohman! We can do this!" He held up his PET. "Right, Megaman?"

His Navi nodded. "Right."

"If Lan's in, I'm too," Dex added.

Yai shrugged. "Glyde's not much of a fighter, but you have my support."

Maylu nodded. "I'm not sure I'll be able to do much, but count me in."

-xox-

Another limousine ride, the group arrived at what Yai had referred to as her tree-house. On any ordinary day, Cory would have imagined a shack that, somehow, managed to stay on a tree. The sole fact that the car she was about to leave probably cost as much as her parents earned in a year, it was probably more of a villa on a tree.

When Cory, after the others, left the limousine, she wasn't as surprised as she should have been at the considerably large wooden house in the tree. "Okay, this is my first time I had to find a base for operations. It's not always that easy, right?"

"Nope," VJ replied. "Definitely not."

Silently, she followed the group into the house, which was just as nice on the inside. It had a couch, a mini-fridge and even a whole wall full of screens and various consoles. "Yeeeah. I things keep going like that, we'll be d-"

"They won't," VJ interrupted. "For starters, how are we going to find Tanoya?"

"I should ask you that. You've been going after that guy for longer than I have."

VJ shrugged. "Yes. But as I said before, he's _hiding_. I'm not sure if he'll keep that up for long, but honestly, I'd rather not have Tanoya go wild here."

"I'd say we follow the news," Maylu suggested, sitting down on the couch. "If anything large-scale happens, we'll notice."

Cory nodded and sat down next to her. "You're right. I still have a bad feeling about this." She leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "I hope that's just me feeling antsy about this whole thing."

"Ms. Yai?" Glyde's voice came from the loudspeakers, causing Yai to stop sipping the new glass of strawberry milk she had just gotten herself.

"Yes?"

"We have a visitor." On the screen, a window popped open, It showed the entrance to the tree-house, and, to everyone's surprise, Chaud.

Yai froze. "What does _he_ want here?"

Maylu glared at Lan. "Might have something to do with your bragging back then."

"He is, indeed, here because of Ms. Cory," Glyde said. "Shall I let him in?"

Yai huffed. "Whatever. But if he starts insulting me, make sure the trap door works."

"The trap door is fully operative."

A few moments later, Chaud stepped into the room, looking around in a rather bored way. "Hello."

For a while, everyone just looked at him, until he took a step towards Cory. "I'll make this short. Your new friend, Cory Fortran, does not exist."

Now, all eyes, both virtual and real, were set on Cory.

"I had Protoman check every major database, as well as many minor ones. While there are a few Fortrans out there, none of them match your age and description. Same goes for the few Cory and Cory-related names on the list."

VJ let out a long sigh. "See. That's what I meant when I said he was too smart. It took him, what, a few hours?"

Lan stood up. "What took him a few hours? And what do you mean, she doesn't exist? You're confusing me."

"Okay, maybe I should explain myself." Cory sighed. "I'm from a bit... farther away than from another country."

-xox-

VJ and the other Navis, plugged into the tree-house's computer, watched as Cory explained herself.

"_VJ and I come from a parallel world."_

"That's a joke, right?" Megaman asked from next to VJ. "Parallel worlds aren't real, right?" Even though VJ wasn't looking, he could outright feel the blue Navi eyeing him.

"It's theoretically possible," a voice from behind them said.

VJ turned slightly and watched the red-clad Navi walk up to them. "So you're Protoman, right?"

The Navi merely nodded. "VJ, I assume... if she's lying, she's not aware of it."

"Same goes for me, I'd say. Even though I'm not human, so catching me lie would be harder." VJ smirked.

"It would be harder, yes. But I choose to believe you."

Megaman took a step away from VJ and looked at him. "But you're a NetNavi, right?"

"He isn't," Protoman answered. "You have to look a bit closer, but you can tell he isn't."

VJ nodded. "I did my best to adapt, though. I have stats and can use battle chips, for example."

-xox-

One vague explanation later, Lan, Maylu, Dex and Yay stared at Cory with wide eyes. Chaud, on the other hand, looked more like he was trying to think of a way to confirm her origin.

"Guys... for all intents and purposes, I'm human and VJ's a Navi. We follow the rules of your world like you do. Unlike Tanoya, who's going to go on a rampage once he's tired of hiding. Can we please wait with the bewildered staring until we solved the real problem?" Cory sighed.

Chaud, who had taken the time Cory had explained herself in to read the manila folder, nodded. "If everything in this is true, then we should deal with Tanoya as soon as possible."

"We? You're joining us?" Lan asked enthusiastically.

"For the time being."

-xox-

By nightfall, the tree-house's main room had turned into what was best described as a mad man's base of operations. The contents of the manila folder had been tacked to the wall, VJ and Protoman had taken it on themselves to update the computer's security system and the rest was watching the news channel.

A while ago, Maylu and Dex had left to do other things, which left Lan, Chaud, Yai and Cory to occupy the couch and assorted arm chairs.

Lan yawned and stretched his arms. "I'm bored. Can't we do something?"

"Huh? Wha?" Yai muttered, obviously waking up.

"If we knew where to look, we'd be actively searching for Tanoya." Cory scratched her nose.

Chaud stood up and straightened out his clothes. "Protoman? How far are you?"

"Most updates are done."

"Then we'll return tomorrow. I have other important things to do." With that, Chaud logged his Navi out. "Good night. If anything happens, you know how to reach me."

Sleepily, Yai nodded. "Glyde? See him out," she muttered, and promptly, a trap door opened under Chaud's feet.

"What was _that_?" Cory asked. She didn't really care, though, since the day and general mood had worn her out too much.

"He's fine." And with that, Yai was out again.

"Uh, I... we... should go, I think," Lan mumbled, fetched his PET and left. "Before Yai decides to kick me out too. "I'll come back tomorrow."

And with that, they were alone. Yai had curled up in a ball on her arm chair, which left the couch to Cory, who used the absence of other people to stretch herself out on it.

With everyone else gone, the only thing that was left was the computer's humming. Cory sighed and stared at the ceiling. She didn't know what she had expected, but that wasn't it. She closed her eyes and contemplated the others.

Lan, she thought, meant well. He seemed to be a bit of a ditz, but with Megaman by his side, he'd be a valuable asset. And who knew, maybe they'd need some proper silly along the way.

Maylu and Roll hadn't _done_ much, but they made that up with having brains and being generally reasonable. Both of them were nice and had a general air of compassion. They'd help a lot, if Tanoya's effects would really be that devastating.

Dex, for a number of reasons, was someone she just couldn't see as anything but a front line fighter. He'd have his use, but as thinking was not his big strength, he wasn't needed right now.

Yai, who was mumbling not so nice things about Chaud right now, was a strange person. She was a bit of an eccentric, but okay otherwise, and she too did her best to help. Her, as well as Glyde, were their front line of support.

That brought her to Chaud. He was definitely the most mature of the bunch. Even though he seemed to be in some kind of rich people feud with Yai, he seemed to be reliable, and, as VJ had put it, too smart for Cory to keep her origin hidden. If his Navi was anywhere near as competent as him, they'd be up there right next to Lan. Just more serious and way more professional.

With a sigh, Cory curled up as far as the couch let her, and drifted into sleep, hoping that VJ was wrong and things would continue to go that smoothly.


End file.
